December 24, 2012

Real or fake?

I am referring to Christmas trees! Good gravy, get your mind out of the gutter. I was in favor of the good old fake "pencil" tree this year (which I wrote about briefly here two years ago), but Sassy just had to have a real tree. I give her major props for going to pick it out, load it up, and decorating with lights and ornaments. She does not however remember to water it. Hence my hesitation about real trees ... aka major fire hazards. I'm not feelin' real Christmasy this year. I've kind of been muddling through thinking I'll fake it 'til I make it, but it hasn't hit yet. I watched my favorite holiday movie of all time, Miracle on 34th Street (the original 1947 version with Natale Wood and Edmund Gwenn of course!). Nothing. I even made cookies thinking that would help. It only fueled my guilt about needing to drop a few lbs. Sigh. 
left to right: Rugelach - Peanut Butter Blossoms - Tea Cakes - Pizzelles

Bad news - time is running out as it's Christmas Eve; Good news - only a little over 24 hours to fake it if the spirit doesn't kick in.


May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white

December 9, 2012

Hyperinflation

I just completed my final exam for International Trade. Now I'm super hyper ... not sure if it was the coma-inducing studying for exam, running back and forth to Chunky's basketball games for a tournament, or helping with snow related activies*, but I have a major second wind going on. The exam was online with a time limit of 3 hours - I completed in 2 hours, flipping back and forth in my textbook and once a question was answered there was no looking back. My score is 88% (44 out of 50) and I am perfectly happy with that. Exchange rates and purchasing power parity are not my forté. I figure with 30% weight of exam and 100% on everything else (for which I'm reasonably on track) I could still get an A at 96%. It will all be finished after one more class and group paper/presentation on Turkey.

* kids did shoveling/snow throwing - thank you! - I moved to-be-fixed snowthrower from back shed to garage uphill and delivered occasional help to Hubby while he supervised activities from the garage

Side rant - we are currently experiencing Winter Storm "Caesar" according to the media. When did they start naming snow storms?! Is there a competition with naming hurricanes with which I am unfamiliar? This perplexes me greatly.